Economy

Views sought on the future of Lincolnshire town

by Stella
written by Stella

People living in Immingham are being asked about their views on the future of the town.

The town council is drawing up a new town plan which will outline future developments.

It said it was a chance for residents, businesses and other local organisations to tell planners "what they would like to see".

An online survey will run for four weeks and responses will be used to develop further feedback sessions, the council said.

Results of the research will be used to develop the Immingham Forward plan.

Karen Swinburn, chair of the town council and Lady Mayor of Immingham, said: "This is your chance to tell us what you like about Immingham and where you would like to see improvements.

"We want to know what you think as your views are vital to shaping the future of the town going forward.

"The survey will take just a few minutes to complete but may have an impact on the shape of Immingham to come."

Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.

Innovation

Three takeaways from county council elections

by Samantha
written by Samantha

Worcestershire County Council slipped into no overall control after Thursday's election with no party having a majority of councillors.

Reform UK were the significant winners after the votes were counted as they now have 27 seats, two short of the number needed for overall control.

The big losers were the Conservatives, who went from 45 councillors to 12.

Here are three takeaways from the election:

Reform's rout of the Tories

This was the first Worcestershire election in which Reform UK won seats, 27 in total

Almost every seat in the county was affected in some way by the swing towards Reform.

Before this set of elections the relatively new party had never won a seat in the county; now it is the largest party with 27 councillors.

Twenty-six of those gains – based off the 2021 results – were from the Conservatives.

Before polling day, Reform candidates were optimistic but this result has far exceeded their expectations.

Two seats short of an overall majority, they now face a decision – form a minority administration and try to go it alone or find a partner to run the county council with.

Dead Heat

One result ended up in a dead heat in the election

The most dramatic moment of these elections came in the rural Littletons division, where the Green and Reform candidates had a dead heat – both on 889 votes.

This meant a ballot was drawn with both their names being placed into a box and one drawn at random.

Green candidate Hannah Robson's name came out, meaning she took seat from the Tories.

She acknowledged it was not the ideal way to decide a vote but "that's what we have to work with".

Good day for the Greens

The Greens now have eight seats on the council

If these elections were evidence voters were disenchanted with the two main Westminster parties, Worcestershire's Greens were the other clear winners.

The party now has eight seats on the county council, five more than in 2021.

They managed to cement their strong position in Worcester itself, with music teacher and parliamentary candidate Tor Pingree defeating the Conservative council leader Simon Geraghty.

Business

Council to debate 'ill-conceived' waste site plan

by Logan
written by Logan

A planning application for a new recycling facility near a village in Cornwall has received more than 120 objections.

Gwinear-Gwithian Parish Council will meet to discuss the plans for the wood and green waste centre at Roseworthy Hill near Connor Downs later.

"Loss of countryside, smell, contamination of nearby waterways and noise" were among the reasons cited by local residents as to why they felt it should be refused, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In a planning statement, The Green Waste Company said the new site would "greatly improve the current services".

'Immediate and safe'

The company currently has two recycling sites at Higher Brynn, near Victoria, and Splattenridden Farm, near St Erth.

The firm said: "Currently, Splattenridden receives green waste from five council-run Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) sites.

"For reasons of logistics and capacity, it is proposed that, apart from the St Erth HRWC and Penzance Town Council sources, all other waste would be sent to the proposal site at Roseworthy.

"This would greatly improve the current services provided by the Green Waste Company and, importantly, will greatly reduce miles travelled every year transporting the waste.

"The proposed site is conveniently located on low-grade agricultural land owned by the applicant.

"It has immediate and safe highway access."

'Totally irresponsible'

More than 120 people had raised concerns on Cornwall Council's online planning portal, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

One objection stated the installation of a waste recycling plant was "totally irresponsible and ill-conceived."

It added: "Chemicals which develop through the waste recycling will leach through the soil spreading toxic chemicals, once this occurs the land will be destroyed for decades."

Councillor Lionel Pascoe, who represents Gwinear Gwithian and Hayle East, said the plan was "causing quite a stir in the area" but the matter had to go to a parish council decision.

Economy

Teacher reunited with Roald Dahl's opal gift

by Kelly
written by Kelly

A teacher from Australia was reunited with an opal gifted by his class to the children's author Roald Dahl more than 30 years ago.

Mark Taylor, 57, made a special trip to the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, to see the precious gem while on a visit to the UK.

The world-renowned author had kept it on the desk in his writing hut at his home, Gipsy House.

He was given it by the class at Mintabie Area School in central Australia after doing a telephone link-up when he visited the country as part of his book tour promoting the recently published Matilda in 1989.

Lily-May Symonds / BBC
The opal stone is kept in the original spot on Dahl's desk in the museum

The children had been reading his books and were fascinated by the author, Mr Taylor said.

"He had a way of saying the most extraordinary and hilarious things, while remaining perfectly calm and teaching us at the same time," he added.

Mintabie, which is now an abandoned mining town, is more than 1,000km from Adelaide and a long way from facilities that other children would take for granted.

Mr Taylor said his students' faces transformed when Dahl told them how lucky they were to live in a place where treasures were dug up from the ground.

He recalled that Dahl told the class: "There could be treasures all around you, waiting to be found, and you might never know it. In fact, you could be sitting or standing on an incredible treasure now."

Mr Taylor said the author had asked if the students had ever found opal stones, to which the class responded they had.

An opal stone was duly sent to Roald Dahl via his publisher, Penguin.

Mark Taylor
Roald Dahl thanked the class for the opal stone in a letter

Steve Gardam, director of the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre, said: "The opal stone has been on the writing desk of Roald Dahl since he received it in 1989 and has remained there ever since.

"In 2011, Dahl's writing hut was transferred to the Museum and is one of the key exhibits here in Great Missenden."

Global Trade

Payout for trainee nurse after fake patient claim

by Amanda
written by Amanda

A trainee nurse who was falsely accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a patient will receive compensation from her ex-employer, a tribunal has ruled.

Jessica Thorpe was suspended by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust after a patient claimed she was pregnant with his child.

Despite a disciplinary hearing not upholding the allegation against her, the suspension continued for about two years and she resigned in November 2022 – a month after being allowed to return to work.

Posting on social media, Ms Thorpe said she was "finally free". The trust said it was disappointed with the tribunal's findings.

Ms Thorpe had sued the trust for constructive unfair dismissal, unlawful deduction of wages and breach of contract.

A decision published in November by the employment tribunal showed she had won all three counts.

This week, a judge ruled the trust should pay her £23,534, which included compensation for her loss of earnings.

Social media earnings

Ms Thorpe joined the trust in 2016 as a healthcare assistant. She was promoted to nursing assistant in 2018, and in January 2020 started a four-year nursing degree apprenticeship at Sunderland University, which allowed her to continue to work.

Documents from the tribunal showed that if Ms Thorpe had not been unfairly dismissed in 2020, she would have earned about £66,500 – including pension contributions – since the end of her employment.

Since her suspension, Ms Thorpe started an Instagram and YouTube profile called Slice of Jess, in which she posted lifestyle, food and clothing content, the papers showed.

Employment Judge Sweeney said he needed to consider whether the £46,400 she made since leaving her job should be taken into account as reducing her post-dismissal losses.

Papers showed Ms Thorpe told the hearing her social media activities were a hobby and compared them to people playing golf or horse riding.

Lost job opportunity

Ms Thorpe also worked part-time as a community care assistant for about 14 months from August 2023, earning about £13,000.

The documents showed she had received a conditional offer of a job with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, but lost that opportunity when she could not provide them with documents requested.

This was because her previous employer failed to send her the appropriate papers, despite her requesting them several times and them having an obligation to do so.

The judge ruled Ms Thorpe's total losses should be considered to amount to about £19,700.

He said: "I am satisfied that [Ms Thorpe] would have continued to engage in some social media activities had she remained in employment with the [trust], albeit to a significantly reduced extent."

He added she was receiving a "good secondary income" by the time she left her employment and it was "highly unlikely" that she would have given up on it.

In a video posted last week, Ms Thorpe said: "Five years to the day that I got sent home suspended – quite poetic.

"My shoulders have dropped, my jaw has unclenched, finally I'm free."

Lynne Shaw, executive director of workforce at the trust, said although it was disappointed of the outcome, the trust respects "the findings of the tribunal and will look at what lessons can be learned".

Business

Woman dies in village crash, police say

by Megan
written by Megan

A woman has died in a crash in a village, police have confirmed.

Emergency services were called to Cookgate in Nunthorpe, near Middlesbrough, at about 12:37 BST following reports of a traffic collision.

The road was closed for hours but reopened later in the evening.

Cleveland Police said the woman's family had requested privacy while they grieved the loss of their loved one.

In a statement, the force said: "Our thoughts remain with the woman's family and friends at this extremely difficult time."

Teams from North East Ambulance Service and the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) attended along with police.

Innovation

Attempted murder arrest after double stabbing

by Faith
written by Faith

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after two people were stabbed in Bradford.

Officers were called to Seymour Street, off Leeds Road, at about 22:15 BST on Sunday and two men were taken to hospital, with one man's injuries described as "serious".

West Yorkshire Police said the 36-year-old arrested man remains in custody, with investigations continuing.

The second injured man's injuries were described as not life-threatening, with a damaged vehicle found at the scene seized by officers.

West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds

Economy

Child pulled from canal and taken to hospital

by Heather
written by Heather

A child has been taken to hospital after getting into difficulty in a canal, police have said.

Devon and Cornwall Police said emergency services were called to Clapperbrook Lane East, in Exeter, at about 16:35 BST on Monday, following a "concern for welfare for a child in the canal".

The child was pulled from the water in a serious condition and has been taken to hospital, the force added.

It said a police cordon was put in place at the scene but has since been lifted.

Tech

'Construction firms won't let me work because I'm a girl'

by Addison
written by Addison

A stonemasonry student said companies had told her she could not join the profession "because she's a girl".

Alice, who is 17, was one of the students who took part in a competition for apprentices at Moulton College in Northampton on Thursday.

Industry experts have said 19,750 extra construction workers are needed in the East of England by 2028 to meet government housebuilding targets.

However, some students, like Alice, said they still faced barriers which made it difficult to pursue a career in construction.

The SkillBuild competition, organised by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), tested apprentices and trainees in a variety of tasks, from furniture making to tiling.

Alice, from Weston Favell in Northamptonshire, inherited her interest in architecture from her grandfather and wanted to work on some of the UK's greatest stone buildings – cathedrals.

But she said her journey had not been easy.

"I've tried to contact some companies to get onto that kind of work, but it hasn't really worked out," she told the BBC.

"The main thing is that I'm a woman and a lot of companies have told me 'you can't do this because you're a girl – you're not strong enough, you won't be able to do the heavy labour'."

Kate Bradbrook/BBC
Maizie said people needed to realise the value of careers in construction

Another competitor, Maizie from Bury St Edmonds in Suffolk, wanted to encourage more women to join the industry.

The 17-year-old goes to college in Colchester and said: "In my class it's actually a pretty good mix, but in the industry as a whole, it's definitely a big imbalance.

"People need to realise the value of these industries, and we need to push more young people to go into it. It can be a bit inaccessible at the beginning, especially for young people, since working in these workshop environments can be quite dangerous."

Kate Bradbrook/BBC
Sean believes more apprenticeships are needed for young people

The first obstacle in the competition for Rugby man Sean, 18, was having to "scavenge" for the right tools to make a porch roof, having brought the wrong ones.

The bigger issue for him, generally, was the lack of opportunities for young people.

He said: "There's not enough apprenticeships – it took me two years to get here, and I feel like that's one of the biggest problems.

"The amount of houses they're trying to build; they definitely need more apprenticeships."

Kate Bradbrook/BBC
CITB's Robert Smith said the construction industry needed to make itself more attractive

A CITB report published this month said 19,750 new workers were needed in the region.

Robert Smith, from the CITB, said "we really need to make that attractive so that they know there are jobs for the future, secure opportunities and great career pathways".

The figures suggest there is a long way to go before there is a gender balance in the industry.

According to The Office for National Statistics, women comprise just 15.8% of the construction workforce and only 2% of workers onsite.

There is some hope, though, with the number of women as a proportion of the overall construction workforce increasing by 36.9% since 2012.

The government said construction would be one area to benefit from a "record-breaking £3bn apprenticeship budget".

Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Business

Government would support knife arches in schools

by Nathan
written by Nathan

Installing metal detecting knife arches in schools and nightclubs would be supported by the government if they were "appropriate", the policing minister has said.

Diana Johnson, however, said those decisions should be "made locally".

She was speaking during a visit to Coventry as part of Knife Crime Awareness Week.

The West Midlands Police area recently saw a drop in the number of knife crime incidents – meaning it no longer has the highest rate of knife crime in the country.

The minister discussed how the government would be working with the force to help meet a national target of halving knife crime over the next decade.

Policing Minister Diana Johnson visited Coventry city centre to see what police were doing to tackle knife crime

Asked about installing knife arches in nightclubs and schools after several incidents involving young people in the region over recent years, she said: "I'm open to looking at anything that keeps the public safe.

"I think in schools, if schools if head teachers think that's appropriate then I would support them in that.

"But I think it is very much down to what actions are most appropriate for the setting you're talking about."

Pupils at St Gregory's Primary School in Coventry took part in a virtual reality knife crime session run by police

It was recently announced that the number of weapon surrender bins in the West Midlands is to double.

People are able to dispose of knives and weapons in the metal containers, with 1,705 weapons surrendered in the West Midlands Police area between January and March, which were later destroyed.

That equates to 142 weapons deposited each week, or more than 20 per day.

Ch Supt Paul Joyce said West Midlands Police had been successful in reducing gang-related knife crime

The recent haul included hundreds of flick knives, zombie knives, kitchen knives, knuckle dusters, machetes and even firearms.

Ch Supt Paul Joyce, who is responsible for policing across the whole of Coventry, told the BBC that part of the success was down to working with schoolchildren and tackling gang-related crime.

He said: "We've got really good processes in place to identify gang members and proactively target them to ensure that they are not a risk to each other and to the wider community."